'Charge' documents racers braking on emissions

Narrated by Ewan McGregor and filmed during the Isle of Man TTXGP, the electric motorcycle-racing film "Charge" will screen this weekend as part of the Docurama film series. Laemmle theaters in Claremont, Santa Monica, North Hollywood, Pasadena and Encino will show the film Saturday at 11 a.m. CINEDIGM

'Charge'

The Isle of Man is a motorcycle mecca – at least it is for two weeks of the year during an annual speed fest known as the TT. For 106 years, the tiny island in the middle of the Irish Sea has played host to the legendary event that is run on real roads by little-known racers who speed within inches of stone walls and spectators on sport bikes topping 200 mph.

But in 2009, the TT was host to something different: the world's first zero-emissions motorcycle grand prix, or TTXGP, which took place on the same twisty 37.73-mile course. The experimental electric motorcycles lacked the speed and sound of the legendary TT, but their existence proved an intriguing idea: "That maniacs on motorcycles can be a force for global good."

Filmmaker Mark Neale captured the action of the original race, then returned a year later to witness a giant leap forward in technology. The result of those efforts is "Charge," a documentary that tracks the Silicon Valley startups and the university research teams, the businessmen, the government officials and, of course, the racers who made the first e-GP a reality. Narrated by Ewan McGregor, "Charge" will race onto the big screen – briefly – as part of the seven-week, seven-film Docurama documentary series.

A three-minute short film about solar-powered roads and parking lots runs just before each screening, with a pretaped Q&A with director Mark Neale screened afterward.

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